uneasy weather....

Never trust a March snowstorm. 24 years ago today, we had a surprise nor'easter hit. When I say, "surprise", I mean SURPRISE! Without smartphones and laptops, our weather forecasts were limited to nightly television meteorologists, and ha, we didn't have a t.v. back then, so our family got the daily newspaper, which yes, was delivered on a dinosaur.

So that big storm 24 years ago gridlocked the traffic in the city...the people got out of work early, all at the same time, and the storm stopped the vehicles in their tracks...snow was falling at almost 4 inches an hour at one point. Paul left work and got as far as the end of the road, and had to just park and walk...he came in the door so covered in snow, it reminded us of when Pa in "Little House" had gotten caught in a blizzard.

The fun thing about that storm was that my mother got snowed in with us. To pass the time, at one point, we decided to have a poetry contest (no television, we didn't get one until a few years later). Paul's poem was surprisingly the best, and it was great fun.

The wind howled around the house and we got several feet of snow in two days.

Now, forecasters are predicting another big one, the worst snow of the season, right when we could almost taste spring. I have already put away winter decorations! There are tulips on the counter!

With Paul in Ireland, somehow I just feel uneasy about this storm, like I need to prepare. If power goes out, we lose water too, so we need to fill up some jugs and pitchers. We should go to the store and get some food that's easy to eat if we lose power, too. And dig out some firewood, as if I could make a fire in the woodburner furnace without smoking us out of the house, ha.

Today we aren't going to just sit around and wait for the snow, we are going to the childrens' museum of play! It's one of my favorite places, and we are going with Mali and little Lydia.

First, I have to go take care of a ticket, poor Evelyn got pulled over by the state police the other night for having a headlight out. She was driving Abigail's car (Abby is on a cruise with Grandma). Ev had no idea the headlight was out. It has to be fixed and signed off from a car fixer/mechanic or police officer and postmarked today, mailed in to court. Evelyn was upset about being pulled over, and I was like, "Seriously, I have to take care of this today, I am going to the museum!" But that's life, isn't it? The officer could have given us a little more time, but I guess he thinks we have nothing better to do.

I do have better things to do, which is why it's a mystery to me why I am sitting here in my comfy chair with the fake fireplace roaring it's fake sound with it's fake flames dancing, spewing out wonderfully warm real heat. The dogs are snoring now, and it's peaceful. I have to wake the girls and pack our lunches, but I have a little bit of time.

Yesterday, I went to the Lowe's Home Improvement store with Mirielle. She is updating her bathroom. I had a gift card from some paint I bought back in the fall, and Cam has been bugging me to use it, she was afraid it would expire or I would lose it, poor child. So, I bought a new stove fan/hood/exhaust thing. It looks so much better! Adrian, Margaret's husband, installed it as soon as I brought it in.

I still want to do more projects here, but where to start? I want to sew with the little girls, paint the counter tops, paint the cabinets...

On Friday, we puttered around and did lots of art projects. The little girls love to paint things. I painted an unfinished mirror that I used a 55% off coupon on in the craft store, with white enamel paint, it is hung on the wall behind the far couch, and I like it. I chalk painted the little ceramic toothbrush holders we have had in the bathroom for like 20 years. I chalk painted some blue mason jars, to put flowers in, and they look just how I wanted them to. Char painted a little crate, Cam painted a wood tray.

So Margaret and Adrian have a puppy. She's three months old, her name is Bunny, and she's a Lab/Boxer mix, I think. She's adorable and very well behaved. She comes to visit frequently, and runs around with Sunny. Suri tolerates her, Duke doesn't like her at all, I think he feels threatened, so he growls when she comes close. She's learning to just leave him alone. Anyway, Bunny is not quite potty trained, so we have to pick up all the throw rugs when she comes to visit. She gets excited and stops and does a little puddle...it reminds me of Sunny just a few months ago. Overall, it's nice when they bring her over, because dogs need friends too.

So Duke woke me up at 12:30 last night, right as I was falling asleep. I let them all out, and when they came in, I gave Duke one of his doggy arthritis pills, took him into my room, and actually lifted him right up into the bed, practically covered him up and sang him a song. He slept until seven this morning. Paul will have to sleep on the floor when he gets home. :)

Yeah, I need to go pack some lunches. I hope the snow holds off until later tonight so we get home safe and sound.